The F word

In the world of bartending, nothing is more exciting than flair bartending. Yet in the same breath, nothing has more of a negative image attached to it as well.

The first record of flair bartending is accredited to â€śThe Professorâ€ť Jerry Thomas from San Francisco, who in the mid 1800â€™s included some flair in his Blue Blazer cocktail by rolling flaming Scotch from one mug to another.

The late 1980â€™s saw a big boost in the number of flair bartenders after Tom Cruiseâ€™s character Brian Flanagan wowed his guests from behind the bar in the movie Cocktail.

No one wants to see an amateur flair bartender drop bottles or tins and make a mess of the cocktail they are trying to make.

The problem is that those bartenders donâ€™t put in the time and effort that is required to become a professional flair bartender.

Another popular argument against flair bartending is that even if the bartender is very skilled, they take too long to make the cocktail.

Any self respecting flair bartender knows that there is a time and place to put on a show. If the bar is busy, small subtle moves are fine because they donâ€™t take any more time than traditional bartenders do. If the bar is slow then entertain your guests any way you can.

I have been flair bartending for almost 10 years now, and have been competing on a professional level for over five. During that time I have never had anyone complain that Iâ€™m taking too long, or been dissatisfied with my service. And I incorporate flair into just about every cocktail I create.In Toronto, there are more flair bartenders than ever before. In the last five years, the amount of flair bartenders has gone from around 5, to over 30.

Because of bartender training facilities such as BartenderOne, and Flair Studios Canada, the talent is pouring out of Toronto faster than ever before. Toronto is now considered to be one of the top 5 flair bartending hot beds in the world.

BartenderOne has been offering flair bartending classes since 2005, and they also hold a â€śBartend on the Beachâ€ť course throughout the summer where anyone at any level can learn the art of flair bartending free of charge.

Flair Studios Canada was opened in 2010 and has been training bartenders on a daily basis ever since.